Good Eats and Tall Peaks

Time Flies

Time flies, so keep having fun – whatever that means to you. Skiing, drinking, knitting, climbing, playing cribbage, eating your weight in queso dip… all of the above.

So all of a sudden it’s February. The last two months have been filled with so much fun, travel, happiness, food, and friendship that (thankfully) those days didn’t seem to pass by. I’m thankful for the snow January brought and being reunited in Big Sky with some of my oldest friends, Coldsmoke, and ski joring.

Over a year ago I moved to Utah in search of bigger mountains that were close to home. Although last year didn’t deliver much, so the locals told me, I was content with the challenge of steep mountains, new terrain, and the accelerated speed I came to realize I needed to keep up with my roommates.

Soft turns after a morning ski tour up Big Cottonwood.

I don’t need to tell you how great the snow has been this year for anyone who enjoys winter and has an Instagram account. I couldn’t be more happy to have the people I have around me for this second winter. Spirits are high. Greater snow pack means that my tour guides (roommates and/or boyfriend) have been able to take me to spots we couldn’t go last year. It. Is. Awesome.

I will take this moment to comment on my least favorite part of El Nino: the lack of creativity in Instagram captions at this point in the season. The world of IG (and my personal feed) has seen basically everyone “Exiting the #whiteroom after the goods were delivered by Mother Nature. #snorkelneeded #faceshots #altaisforskiers #nuketown” Maybe I just don’t hang with the cool kids that find this awesome. Sue me that I find it a little more entertaining to have some wit or humor – like when my roommate comments on my yoga photos #basicwhitegirl . Good times.

Cut squash in half and scrape the seeds/membrane in the center out with a spoon. Fill a microwaveable dish (9×9 if you have it) with about a half inch of water and place the squash skin side down so the flesh isn’t in the water. Microwave on high for 10 minutes or until the flesh is tender and can be easily scraped out with a fork.

If you’re using chicken, cut, season with salt and pepper, and brown in a saucepan. Then set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

While the squash is in the microwave, heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan and saute garlic. Add carrots and broccoli and cook for 3-4 minutes until tender. Add spinach and cook an additional minute. Remove from heat.

Scrape squash from the rind, and place the rinds on a baking sheet. Combine squash, veggies, and chicken into the large saucepan. Add pesto (as much as you’d like) and mix. Place mixture back into the two squash rinds. Top with parmesan if desired and pop them into the preheated oven for 5-7 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Chicken Pesto Squash Boats

Listen up
So I’m still making my way through Shantaram, my 900 page book I need to conquer…soon.

In the meantime I listened to The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson on my trip to Big Sky last week. This book had been on my list for awhile and as much as I like reading actual books, I find myself traveling so often that it can become a challenge. I’m a big fan of audiobooks. This book is a great read for a little fiction and a little history as my friend Taylor put it. The premise is based around the making of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and a serial killer.

If you’re into podcasts, awesome. Me too. My newest addition to my library is Serial, by This American Life. The podcast is new enough that there are only two stories which are broken into many hour-ish long epidsodes. If you’ve seen Making a Murderer on Netflix, it has that similar theme of diving into unique court cases that ask the questions “Did they actually do it?” and “why?”. I’m hooked.

If crime isn’t really your thing, I recommend the “SYSK: Stuff You Should Know” series. These guys have tons of topics in hour long podcasts ranging from “How Drug Dogs Work”, to “How Wine Fraud Works”, to “How Grimm’s Fairy Tales Work”.

If I’m missing out on something great, someone please enlighten me.

Despite getting a wisdom tooth pulled on Friday, Saturday Night one of my life concert goals was reached: Third Eye Blind.

Say what you want, but it was an amazing show in a small venue that was full of stoked fans. I realize a lot of people just know the 3-4 songs that have shaped every 90’s kids life…but most bands have more to offer than just that. I won’t go into detail, but let’s just point out that the lead singer is 51 (hard to believe), and still killing it. Another good show in the books.

I love the freshness the beginning of a new month brings. New recipes, books, and ski lines to be had.